Nintendo's Big Reveals Dissected: An IGN AU Perspective

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Day 2 of E3 brings new Zelda, Kirby, Kid Icarus and the 3DS. We go hands on.

By Patrick Kolan, Cam Shea and Narayan 'Naz' Pattison

Patch: Nintendo's press event opened with a bang – and it certainly had to, in the face of expectations from fans and the media alike. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword was the first cab off the rank, and I think it's going to divide fans from a stylistic perspective, if not a gameplay one. IGN AU was among the first people in the world to go hands on with the game.

Immediately noticeable was the rethink on style; taking cues from impressionism, the land of Hyrule blends thick texture work with chunky, rich colours – similar to a Monet. The effect was most noticeable outdoors, where the depth-of-field transformed the horizon into a glittering wash of blooming colours and dots of all sizes, like a tapestry of gemstones. Inside temples, however, the game looked flatter; the lack of depth made it all seem rather plain by comparison.

Shiggy showing off the new Impressionist Zelda.

Perhaps we're spoilt for wonderful Nintendo designs, but it also seemed as if the characters and items didn't quite offer the same sophistication and charm of past efforts; the models were chunky and unthreatening, but also lacked personality. It seems as if the world has been simplified in all areas – but not in a classical, Wind Waker kind of way either. Regardless, we're expecting some significant improvements to the engine between now and its release next year.

The gameplay, however, is the real meat here; already we could see the sketching of grand adventure. The demo allowed us to pilot remote controlled beetles as they soared through the air; Wii MotionPlus integration gave this item near-perfect accuracy. Aiming with the bow, on the other hand, seemed fiddly, not helped by a radial menu that seemed needlessly tied to motion control, too. Hopefully we'll be able to simply swing the control stick around as an option in the final game. Simplification is the mantra here and for good and ill, Zelda has most certainly been streamlined,

More promisingly, the E3 presentation revealed a multitude of outstanding games. The standouts for me were easily Kirby's Epic Yarn – rendered in stunning cloth and stitching style. Looking like irresistible fun, Kirby is going to cause a heck of a stir later this year; the video revealed a swathe of new gameplay concepts, wonderful puzzles and enemies. I can't wait to have a crack at this one; I'm resisting the urge to gush here, but so far, this is my game of the show. Seriously. If you haven't watched the footage yet, do yourself a favour right here on IGN.

A new GoldenEye game from Activision looks to remake the famed N64 shooter exclusively for Wii. Interesting proposition to be sure, but we'll have to reserve judgment, given all we've really seen so far was the rapid-fire trailer. Still, the animations look fantastic and textures were surprisingly sharp.

This is less than half the girls with 3DS demo units that came out at the end of the press conference.

I was really wondering if this year's Nintendo presser would finally answer two lasting mysteries for Nintendo fans: the Retro Studios project and confirmation of a new Kid Icarus game. As it turns out, the new game from Retro Studios was revealed to be 'Donkey Kong Returns' – a classic 2.5D DK adventure in the traditions of the Super Nintendo series. We're excited if only for new straight-up 2D platforming – which seemed, off the back of the Nintendo press event, to be returning to the fore in full force.

Kid Icarus: Uprising, the first unveiled 3DS game, looks like a blend of old-scool on-rails shooting, ala Space Harrier, and platform action. Easily on par with the Wii's graphics, Kid Icarus was also running in demo video form behind the scenes, and we're happy to report that the 3D effect is utterly flooring. More on the 3DS shortly.

Mario Sports Mix? Yawn. Wii Party? Ditto.

The real drawcard for all of us (and probably you too) is the Nintendo 3DS – a glasses-free 3D gaming handheld with graphical power that easily matches and even exceeds the Wii. I'm not exaggerating when I say that this handheld is easily the most technically impressive hardware unveiling of the show; it's a feat to see sharp, clean, colourful 3D effects popping out of the 3DS' 3.5 inch screen. In fact, the effect is actually cleaner and brighter than any glasses-based 3D effect I've seen – it's that good.

Patch goes hands-on with the 3DS while a bemused booth babe looks on.

The build quality, buttons and hinge all felt firm and high-quality. The demo machines had a glossy charcoal finish – but personally, you can't go past the blue-into-black unit that Iwata held up on stage. Make that one available, Nintendo!

There were demos running of Nintendogs + Cats, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Resident Evil (most graphically intensive, but apparently it was a video only, and it seemed to blur out a fair bit), 3D Hollywood movies, Kid Icarus: Uprising and a tech demo that ran through high-polygonal models of Link from Twilight Princess, Mario and Yoshi from Mario Galaxy 2, Samus, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Pikmin, and Star Fox's Arwing all rendered in texture quality that nearly meets Xbox 360 and PS3 quality. Now, we can't assume that these games are actually in development, and they certainly won't look as good as these models do in actual gameplay conditions, but it's still a delight to see these franchises aren't off the radar at Nintendo.

So kudos, Big N, your showcase had far more ups than downs, your Kirby title gave me a shiver of pleasure and the Nintendo 3DS is utterly astounding. Now—drop some prices, release dates and details on me, baby.